Portland Trail Blazers President Chris McGowan, who also oversees the Rose Garden’s operations, has been on the job for nearly three months. During an interview this week, McGowan detailed his work with Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group and what it’s like working for Blazers owner Paul Allen. The full interview appears at portlandbusinessjournal.com.

You left a pretty good situation in LA to come here. What played into that decision? I was in a good situation with an entertainment company that’s real dynamic and going places. To leave that, it had to be something special. My wife’s from Southern California, so it wasn’t easy to uproot my family. I also think there’s a lot of opportunity for growth across the Trail Blazers and Rose Garden organizations. You want to go into a situation where you can add value and generate results. It was also a good opportunity to run a team and arena in a market that loves the team.

People in Portland do love the team: They want to be connected, and they want to support the Trail Blazers. So there’s a built-in level of relevance you walk into, which is great for me. People are so passionate about the Trail Blazers that they want to talk about it once they find out what I do. I walk into a coffee shop and people want to talk about the game the night before. Very rarely did I walk into a Starbucks in Southern California and people would want to talk about the NHL. (He used to work for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League.) There’s power to that, having that type of fan base that’s so devoted.The Oregonian newspaper reported that there might be layoffs coming this year. Weren’t you looking at making those moves in February? When I came in, we parted ways with three executives. We did seven more two weeks ago.

Seven more reductions? Right. The organization was bloated compared to other teams I’d studied. To some degree, we still are. I’m more focused on getting the structure right, but our business needs change every year. I tweak things a lot, and there could be more (reductions) to be determined in this area, maybe a couple more here and there. I think for the next nine to 12 months, there might be some of that, but the larger reductions are done. I’d said I wanted to have it done by Feb. 15, but I actually did it in early January. I didn’t want it hanging over people’s heads. At the same time, I didn’t want to do it too quickly because I’m still assessing everything.

The one thing I always wonder about is the level of involvement owner Paul Allen has with the team. Was that a big transition for you, Because they clearly have a big say about what goes on in Portland? To some degree, that’s wrong. Paul has the power, and he hires a CEO to run the business. He’s there with resources when you need it. I do have a good network of people in Seattle to communicate with for whatever I need, and you need to manage up in terms of things you should communicate to your ownership group. If things are or aren’t going according to plan, you need to make them aware of that so there are no surprises.

The Rose Garden was named the fifth best arena in the country in terms of food. What’s your favorite Rose Garden food? There’s so much variety in terms of food choices. We have more selection than any arena I’ve seen. Then there’s the craft beer that’s available. Normally, you go into an arena and only 15 percent of people are drinking craft brew. Not at the Rose Garden.